The present invention relates to a hand-held percussion tool, for instance a percussion hammer, comprising a housing forming at one end a tool receiver, a tool axially guided in the tool receiver, a percussion piston coaxial with the axis of the tool, spaced from the inner end and axially reciprocatable in the housing, a motor-driven air cushion striking means cooperating with the percussion piston for reciprocating the latter, an elongated anvil reciprocatably guided between the inner end of the tool and the percussion piston and movable to an idle stroke position, with a rubber-elastic cushioning ring and an impact body coordinated with the cushioning ring and being guided movable in the longitudinal direction of the anvil and having an abutment face directed toward the anvil. In a known hand-held percussion tool there is arranged between a percussion piston, driven over an air cushion within a pot-shaped piston by a crank drive, and a tool receiver, in which the shaft of a tool is insertable, an anvil movable in the direction of the percussion piston between the latter and the shaft of the tool. The anvil is guided for reciprocation in a bushing. During the operation of the tool, the crank drive accelerates over the pot-shaped piston and the air cushion the percussion piston towards the anvil, so that the percussion piston abuts against the anvil and drives the latter towards the inserted tool. During abutment on the free end of the tool shaft, the anvil transmits at least a part of its kinetic energy onto the tool. Normally the anvil rebounds from the free end of the shaft towards the percussion piston to be again driven by the latter against the shaft of the tool. In order to avoid in such cases, in which, when the anvil reaches its starting position, the percussion piston still moves in the direction of the crank drive, that the anvil does exert a hard blow against the housing, there is provided an abutment ring for the anvil, which is guided in longitudinal direction of the latter, and braced by means of a ring of rubber or the like with respect to an axial abutment face rigid with the housing. After abutment of the anvil onto the abutment ring, both parts move together toward the abutment face, thereby compressing the elastic ring. Thereby both parts are braked. Due to the compressing stress thus built up in the elastic ring, the two parts are accelerated in a direction opposite the original movement of the anvil. Thereby the anvil may eventually again abut against the shaft and again rebound. The anvil of this tool has a neck-shaped part with a circumferential groove formed in the latter, and the elastic ring is constructed in such a manner that it can snap in the circumferential groove during movement of the neck-shaped part. The circumferential groove is arranged on the anvil in such a manner that the snap-in of the elastic ring will take place when the tool is for instance disengaged from the workpiece and therefore moves up to a stop built into the tool receiver. Due to the snapping-in of the elastic ring, the anvil is prevented from moving so far away from the end of the tool shaft so as to be located again in the stroke path of the percussion piston to be again accelerated by the latter in an unintended manner. The snapping-in will provide a so-called idle stroke position of the anvil. If the operation of the tool has to be renewed, the operator has to press the tool forcefully against the workpiece, so that the tool shaft will push the anvil out of its idle stroke position toward the percussion piston, and so that the latter will during its operation again abut against the anvil.